Birth Name – Shayna Andrea Baszler
Born – August 8, 1980 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
Height – 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
Major Titles Held: NXT Women’s Championship (2)
Shayna Andrea Baszler is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, currently signed to WWE where she first performs on the NXT brand. She was the first woman to hold the NXT Title more than once.
Baszler is particularly known for her modified kimura handlock which she has named “Shwing” and has used to defeat several of her opponents, including former FFF Women’s Lightweight Champion Roxanne Modafferi. A South Dakota native, Baszler became a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt and Khun Kru in the Muay Thai boxing association, before starting to train in catch wrestling under MMA legend Josh Barnett who gave her the nickname ‘The Queen of Spades’. In 2003, she made her professional debut at a Reality Cage Fighting event in a match against Tina Johnson, which she won. In the following few years, she also fought for Ring of Fire, Elite XC, Strikeforce, Freestyle Cage Fighting and eventually for UFC, presently holding the record of 15 wins and 11 losses. Baszler began her career as a professional wrestler in 2015 and quickly garnered a positive reputation in the independent circuit.
She debuted in WWE in July 2017 as a participant in that year’s Mae Young Classic defeating Zeda in the first round. The following day, Baszler defeated Mia Yim, Candice LeRae, and Mercedes Martinez en route to the final. On September 12, Baszler was defeated in the final of the tournament by Kairi Sane.
Baszler made her NXT debut at a house show on August 10, 2017, where she teamed with Billie Kay and Peyton Royce; they faced the team of Kairi Sane, Aliyah, and Dakota Kai in a losing effort. On August 12, she made her singles debut, defeating Zeda. On October 3, WWE officially announced that Baszler had signed with the company and started training at the WWE Performance Center. On the December 6 episode of NXT, a vignette aired teasing Baszler’s televised debut.
She made her televised debut by attacking Kairi Sane on December 27, and her televised in-ring debut on the episode aired January 10, 2018, defeating Dakota Kai by referee stoppage. Afterward, Baszler continued to attack Kai until NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon made the save. That led to a title match at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia on January 27, where Moon defeated Baszler to retain the title, but was attacked by Baszler afterwards. Baszler received another title match against Moon at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans on April 7, where Baszler defeated Moon by technical submission to win the title.
On the May 30 episode of NXT, Baszler successfully defended her title against Dakota Kai. She then began a feud with Nikki Cross, culminating in a match at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II, where Baszler defeated Cross by technical submission to retain the title. Baszler then lost the title to Kairi Sane at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4, ending her reign at 133 days.
At Evolution, she defeated Sane in a rematch, becoming the first-ever two-time NXT Women’s Champion. Baszler went on to successfully defend her title against Sane at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Bianca Belair at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix and in a fatal four-way against Sane, Belair and Io Shirai at NXT TakeOver: New York, submitting Belair with a Kirifuda Clutch. Baszler would then feud with Shirai, retaining her title against Shirai at NXT TakeOver: XXV and on the June 26 episode of NXT in a steel cage match to end the feud. At NXT TakeOver: Toronto, she successfully defeated Mia Yim to retain her title. On the October 2 episode of NXT, Baszler successfully retained her title against Candice LeRae. On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, Baszler was the first NXT wrestler to invade the show, when she attacked SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley, Sasha Banks and Nikki Cross. Later that night, Baszler joined Triple H and the rest of the NXT roster as they declared war on both Raw and SmackDown, and vowed to win the Survivor Series brand warfare.
At NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Baszler and her team lost against Rhea Ripley and her team in the first ever women’s Wargames match. At Survivor Series, Baszler won the triple threat champions match against Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley to win Survivor Series for the NXT brand. On the December 18 episode of NXT, Baszler lost the championship to Ripley, ending her reign at 416 days, making her the sixth longest reigning women’s champion after Sensational Sherri’s reign of 441 days. On the January 1 episode of NXT, Shayna Baszler earned the Female Competitor Award in NXT.
Personal Life
Shayna Baszler is the daughter of Skip and Margaret Baszler. Her father is of German descent, while her mother is of Chinese descent. Baszler majored in religion at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Kansas before beginning her mixed martial arts training.
Baszler was a key spokesperson in the movement to create a South Dakota athletic commission for combat sports. She once delivered a speech that touched opposing Rep. Steve Hickey, who once labeled MMA as the “child porn” of sports. After visiting Baszler at the Next Edge Academy of Martial Arts, the training place of Baszler, as well as other mixed martial arts fighters and practitioners, Hickey stated he regretted his analogy as it detracted from his point which, for him, remained true.
Baszler is also a coach for the South Dakota-based roller derby team, the Sioux Falls Roller Dollz. She is a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
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